A fluid control device, such as a fluid control device that automatically opens and closes a faucet in response to an infrared occupancy sensor, typically requires wiring and circuitry to be installed. These prior art fluid control devices can in general only be installed with new construction and are difficult to retrofit to existing plumbing and faucets.
The U.S. Pat. No. 6,420,737 describes a fluid control device that can be adapted to an existing faucet. This device, however, is bulky and requires a large battery to maintain and operate it. Further, this device has limited applications and can only be used for controlling a flow of water through a faucet.
What is needed is a fluid control system, device or method that can be used for a large number of applications. Preferably, the system, device and method can be used to control a flow of water from faucets, sprinklers, fire extinguishing equipment and the like. In a particular embodiment of the invention, the system or device is configured to retrofit to an outlet portion of an existing faucet and control a flow of water therefrom.